🔊 How to make an LM386 audio amplifier circuit

[@Afrotechmods]

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[@SunnyDani_]

You are my hero. I'm an art major taking an electronic art class and we're using arduinos and I've got no idea what I'm doing but this helped a lot!!!

[@mrkattm]

I hold a BSEE and I just wanted to let you and your viewers know that you do a fantastic job with these videos, I only wished that I had these kind of resources when I was first learning this type of stuff.

[@ProtoG42]

You have a great radio voice!

[@Afrotechmods]

Thanks! It's the product of many hours of work for every voiceover.

[@lopez9451]

Indeed, my native language is spanish and even so I did understand every word you said, thanks for take your time to do this video the best way you can!!

[@aronsingletary]

I was just thinking this on one of his other videos.

[@yeeboi5545]

I wasn't sure who to believe as several other youtubers (who specialize in audio electronics) suggest 200-500uF output caps. So I tried it and the bass was way quieter than everything else. Replaced it with something over 1000uF as you suggested (2200uF) and it's fine now. It led me down the rabbit hole of realizing the cap and speaker form a high pass filter, so I can calculate the right values in future now. :) Thanks for the great tutorial video!

[@A3Kr0n]

I used one of those on my research project back in 1985. Worked good. It amplified my Votrax speech synthesizer controlled with a Radio Shack MC-10.

[@symik3]

omg, it was around 6-7 years ago when i found your channel and got into electrical stuffs in detail, not just that i want to be an electrical engineer, i think i can thank my interest in this hobby(now as an EE student, in my second year) partly for you. I have built some pretty basic motor and 9v battery and it drove another motor which worked as a generator for a third one. But this was the point(Your first videos) where i got into learning from KZbin and i gained most of knowledge from there(You, Dave Jones and so many others). Fascinating how much i learnt from KZbin. Thanks for your older and especially newer videos after a long break. Great video as always!

[@Pete..]

that's awesome, wow im just watching his vids and i hope to gain lots of knowledge so i can build awesome stuff and save money and teach others

[@Sooraj_JOSE]

I made this amplifier. Very great sounding. Thanks a lot and may god bless you for spreading such usefull knowledge to all.❤

[@TerryClarkAccordioncrazy]

Great tutorial on the LM386. The RC network recommended on the output is called a Zobel network or Boucherot cell. The purpose of this is to modify the speaker impedance at high frequencies so that the amplifier will remain stable across its whole bandwidth. The LM386 can sound surprisingly good when it's set up just right and used within its limits. Another interesting point about the LM386 is that it produces more distortion as the supply voltage increases if used with low impedance speakers such as most hifi units. With a 4 Ohm speaker it will perform better with a 5V supply than with higher voltages. This is because the output current it can supply is limited, so a higher supply voltage just introduces more THD without actually giving any more power to the load.

[@exyiseyres]

Never stop making videos, you are a much better teacher than anywhere else on the internet

[@AL_O0]

Cool! You can use it to amplify any phone! Except iPhone 7!

[@fyfoh]

It will work with the dongle.

[@AL_O0]

kissben I know that, because I have one

[@IonutDaud]

You can add a bluetooth receiver that connects to that 3.5mm jack and you got yourself a bluetooth speaker.

[@onlyeyeno]

And in 2020 when even more phone companies have "mustered the courage" it is almost a rarity to have a PROPER headphone jack....Thanks for nothing "FruitHeads"... ;)

[@Sammithornzzz]

Just made this amplifier and it's working perfectly. I even added a potenciometer to adjust the volume. Thanks for making this video I've always wanted to make something like this

[@Afrotechmods]

Yay! Glad you liked it!

[@tinywhoopfan]

Where do you connect the pot?

[@Sammithornzzz]

@@tinywhoopfanpin 1 of the pot in between the 1k resistors that convert stereo to mono. pin 2 of the pot directly to pin 3 of the amp chip. and lastly pin 3 of the pot goes to ground. hope this helps you

[@tinywhoopfan]

@@Sammithornzzz thanks this is perfect!

[@quswer8206]

How? Do u have a Circuit diagram . i cant imagin.

[@iamnobodyiameveryone]

I wish I could upvote this video twice. Well done.

[@MrEmrys24]

This one of my first electronic projects. I built one when I was 11.

[@handreas99]

Did you really say "After I was done beeing a striper" ? HAHAH!

[@handreas99]

***** I just didn't expect that.

[@Afrotechmods]

Being a stripper is not a viable long term career.

[@joeandrew8752]

Afrotechmods is it possible to have a pwm signal from a microcontroller be the input instead of the microphones that you have. would I have to change a lot at the input?

[@joeandrew8752]

Afrotechmods I'm asking because a pwm signals isn't an analog signal so I'm just curious how it would work instead.

[@anthropomorphousdodecahedr6504]

well it would sound like shit

[@DrathVader]

I usually use TDA1554s for generic audio amplification purposes. 4x11W or 2x22W, just as simple to use as LM386 and still quite cheap.

[@richardlighthouse5328]

TDA chips are rarity now.

[@Razvii]

@@richardlighthouse5328 what the heck happened in those 1.8 years since he posted the comment?

[@richardlighthouse5328]

@@Razvii idk maybe died?

[@Razvii]

@@richardlighthouse5328 I meant what happened that made the ICs a rarity

[@richardlighthouse5328]

@@Razvii Manafacturer marked them a obsolote

[@BoomBrush]

i love the simplicity of these videos, keep up the good work!

[@matthewkevinkumar2969]

BoomBrush me 2...

[@anthonyvolkman2338]

Excellent tutorial! The lm386 amplifier was my first amplifier I built 2 of them was used with 2 aiwa bookshelf speakers, very loud. No I have been building much higher powered amps, such as my 4,000 watt amp.But that's what I do now.

[@AureliusR]

How on earth can you power a 4000 watt amp? I mean, you're lucky to get 1500W out of the wall and that's an entire dedicated circuit.

[@tankjr85]

Great video! And I used to put a capacitor between pins 1 and 8 to increase the gain to 200, and that makes it a good electric guitar amplifier!

[@robertfantacuca3227]

How it works??

[@dp0813]

Def building this as a project. Will document all steps, sims, etc., & make the case out of acrylic so it the work can be seen. Thanks so much! 👍

[@jasoneyes01]

Afroman is back! KA! Support the channel by clicking on the bell! This is a valuable channel. Hope your cat is doing well, pretty cat I remember...Pitchatu if I remember.

[@Afrotechmods]

Pikachu has his own pikachannel kzbin.info

[@Zuzzi_Live]

I can't believe how well your version works !! every circuit samples on internet sounds orrible, and yours is awersome !! I candrive a 4x12 marshall cabinet with an amazing volume

[@peraltal2618]

Wow this is the only set up that works. It worked for me. I bought a pack of 10 LM386 chips on Amazon I thought they came defective because never sounded loud and had a popcorn sound. But the way this circuitry is set up works perfect. Very loud

[@kenlucas5849]

I had a similar circuit to yours but it was a little noisey. After increasing a few cap values to match yours and adding that 100nF cap between LM386 pin 6 and ground instead of the RC combination I had, I have a very quiet circuit. Taking your advice to shorten up the wires eliminated the am radio station I was picking up too.

[@Zebra_Paw]

Connect pin 2 to GND with 150 ohm resistor, not directly. It will work better. Put 100uf capacitor in parallel with DC input. There is one in your diagram but we often forget it! And if you want bass booster, connect 333 ceramic capacitor (0.033uf) in series with a 15K resistor, and then connect other pin of 15K resistor to pin 1 LM386, and other pin of ceramic capacitor to pin 5. You can also adjust gain between pins 1 and 8. I usually use LM386 as preamp that can have up to 200 gain! You need a capacitor in parallel to the power source, even if it is a battery. bypass is not needed (pin 7) and will most likely cause some more troubles. Output capacitor should be 1000uf at least to get good bass and better working when placing 2.2 to 4.7uf capacitor value between your stereo to mono converter and LM386 input Replace output filter 10 ohm resistor with 4.7 ohm.

[@HH3F73]

Thanks for your work, I have learned hugely by watching your videos. Just one thing: my son (13 years old) has built this amplifier, following your instructions. He has soldered everything and powered with a Hanmer HM305P, it works fine for some time, then boring noises start to litter the performance. Our hypotesis is that the power supplier, at a certain point, stops working properly, introducing annoying disturbs. We are planning to feed the amplifier with a battery but, in this meanwhile, a comment from your proficient side, would be welcome.

[@Cambeast123]

It made all the difference putting the caps across the power rails and adding one to the bypass pin

[@electronicstv5884]

Thank you for sharing this project! I've made an SMD version with EasyEda, JLCPCB and LCSC and it works just perfect! Maybe I'll publish an instructable!

[@ultimatebastiaan]

Africantechmods, you rock bro! I built one exactly to your specifications and it works great. Greetings from Amsterdam!

[@Big_Chungus935]

I need more videos like this. I dont understand what all that means but it still entertaining to watch

[@cassvirgillo3395]

Hi AfroTechMods, Good video. I like the old LM386 for small amps. I have built a lot of them and from John Audio Tech on YT I learned that you need to have a separate ground path for Input, Power, and Output. They should all junction right at pin 4, ground. His video is " LM386 and proper grounding". At best you can expect around .6 mW of output power. It is best to power them at 9 volts for heat dissipation. Do not use 4 ohm loads. 9 volts, 8 ohms and your golden, as John Audio Tech say's. Good to see a new upload. Be good, C.

[@shutdahellup69420]

Cass Virgillo but i have a 4ohm speaker :( can i use a 4 ohm resistor in series to make 8ohms? I'm powering it with 5V dc wall adapter???

[@Edu_RJR]

you could also build two of those, one for each channel left and right and BAM stereo amp

[@cameraman1234567890]

You could use two of the 386 chips at the same time since they are mono, have one of them amplify one channel then have the other amplify the other channel for basically two watts, Allowing more power to be transferred to the whole system, and one speaker for each amp, so just the one amp wont draw more current and get hot or quieter when hooked to more than one speaker especially from delivering a decent amount of current :) Awesome Videos Afroman!

[@KneppaH]

You can use 4 of them. each channel 2 chips in bridge mono mode. Even more power.

[@cameraman1234567890]

Never thought of that, they have a bridge mode? you could probably get even more power if you had some sort of digital splitter for Dolby 5 Channel and be able to amplify 5 different channels with 5 of these. Or Bridge mono mode 5 channels. so 10 of these.@@KneppaH

[@KneppaH]

@@cameraman1234567890 I made one myself. First try was a stereo bridged amplifier with 3 x LM386. But it had weird stereo side effects. After that i made a proper dual mono bridged version, with 4x lm386. It works perfect.

[@cameraman1234567890]

Probably had different delays in the signal, who knows. The Bridged config sounds like the way to go.@@KneppaH

[@doola35ayis]

"After I was done being a stripper" - What the heck did I just hear? - Scrolls down to comments

[@planker]

Like. Mine turned out well, on perf board keeping componenets close with lots of solder. Thanks for the confidence boost.

[@Afrotechmods]

Great to hear!

[@coriscotupi]

One cool variation: instead of joining L+R channel inputs, duplicate the circuit, each with its independent L and R input and speaker, and get full stereo sound. With one full Watt *per channel* to boot.

[@OathSaviour]

thank u sir for suggesting the great courses plus.....

[@texas4434]

Just stumbled upon this channel B A man A Lot of great info simplified into an easy to learn visual and audible electronic gold nugget Right on man great job

[@retro6575]

In case anyone missed it (because I did), one if the resistors is connected to ground, the wire is just real thin.

[@catalin3407]

I can not believe how is this world. Yesterday I thought about Afrotechmods and if he is going to release a new video and here you have it. Ok ,ok... I also thought he got hurt on some of his blowing and catching fire experiments.

[@automationsolution]

Now I realize how many speakers I had wasted before during the stereo to mono conversion but without the resistors!

[@Santhoshezhumalai]

You are wow, I came across the youtube videos for my project i.e. Parametric Audio Equalizer where I also need a amplifier. None of the video was clear as you explained, But you are video means a lot to me, thank you for sharing with us, great job...

[@stevenA44]

I think this is just what I've been looking for, other than I want a stereo amp. I'll have to make the adjustments. Always have loved the little LM386 amp IC.

[@AureliusR]

You can just use two LM386 and feed one channel into each.

[@dl8cy]

an other awesome video of one of the greatest explain brains on YT - thank you!

[@Afrotechmods]

*tips fedora*

[@saqibsami2783]

Thanks for sharing this Sir. Added 50k pot at input and works good.

[@izzyblackout1090]

So if I want to make a stereo output amplifier, I'm gonna need 2 of those LM386 and fed them with each channel respectively?

[@gabrielantiligando9905]

I learned alot in this video, especially the dc output cancellation 😅

[@308-blackout]

Ive watched a few videos from this guy and noticed i hadnt subscribed, and then he said "im done being a stripper" proud to say im a subscriber now.

[@rich8021]

i really like how you explain what's going on and why and how to solve the issues. WEell done! :D

[@parleyk4503]

Yes! Been waiting sooo long for an awesome video like this.

[@MrPorrohman]

You are the da Vinci in our Time! Would pay a ton of gold to have u as my private tutor

[@Afrotechmods]

I accept fair maidens as currency. I will also settle for reasonably attractive donkeys.

[@D00MLOORD]

A donkey, a donkey, my kingdom for a donkey!

[@unknow9667]

Thank man, i made it watching your tutorial and using your schematic!

[@faizaiqbal6933]

Does it work well

[@mitchellnelson3433]

I know this was posted Four years ago but is there anyway to change the volume of the speaker or is it constant?

[@Afrotechmods]

Use the volume control on your audio player, or use a potentiometer as a voltage divider before the input to the amplifier.

[@HDgaming345]

Will a 10W speaker work??

[@RoyAndrews82]

Because it's the amount of current flowing into the resistor and capacitor in series. It's the rate at how fast the capacitor charges/discharged, is what makes the waves... Charge and discharge curve.. RC5. Capacitors supply voltage when needed.. the resistor after the capacitor is what creates and gives the current to the. Capacitors and resistors being used together are used for charge/discharge if you've ever seen it drawn/plotted.. I've been studying electronics for a long time.. it's actually paying off. Everything is basically about variable voltages.. and input signals.. and how you handled them.

[@yihenhong8000]

Where should I place a variable resistor to control the volume?

[@devonmeekflips2635]

If I were you, I would redirect his positive wire a couple spots down and link it back to the big capacitor with your variable resistor 5:20 is what im looking at

[@abioladivine-peaceokikijes1657]

Thank you so much, please can I connect 2 8-ohms speakers to the same amplifier circuit

[@brandencho1862]

thanks bro. you rerally saved me ad my lab partner bro. ou are the best. bro. - Purdue ECE 2K7 (two thousand and 7) ( 20007) (X [bar]X [bar]VII) struggler.

[@brandencho1862]

yea, i agree, he helped much me alot too.

[@taki8592]

Thanks for making this nice video. I build this circuit today and it works fine.

[@shafeeqahamed3669]

How to power up the audio amplifier circuit without a battery source, I mean is there anyway to power the the circuit directly from the AUX cable without any external power supply to the circuit? please help.

[@troyc4841]

He's learning on his own! Let's get him!

[@BowersElectronics]

I want to learn a bit more about different types of microphones, how to use them etc... But I'm too lazy to read so I shall wait to see when it gets posted, or if ill get a comment saying there is already an extensive video on it. keep up the great work!

[@Bruder_chill]

hey welcome back ,keep it up

[@jordruss8621]

Been looking for this for a while now, thanks a bunch

[@melplishka5978]

Awsome vid ty. If we make two of these can it be used for stereo ?.

[@vibra64]

I always used this amp. Thanks for the info on the Great Courses Plus!!!!

[@CORYJOHNM]

I'm watching this and listening to it with the circuit I learned to build here. Sounds good but I need to use the 1000uf. It has a 450uf on a 4ohm 3w speaker. Sure a speaker box of correct size would change the situation also.

[@full-metal_zero0683]

3:53 "this metal sounds like Bieber !!!"🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@nazihahmed8623]

at 4:44 you said rc high pass filter , but from the rc low pass filter video i saw that the resistor is connected to the signal and capacitor to ground , and for an rc high pass filter is capacitor first and resistor to ground, isn't an rc high pass filter supposed to attenuate the low frequencies?? and the rc low pass filter is the one that attenuates high frequencies ? i just seem to confuse this whole thing, would some one explain it to me ? , thanks

[@siavoshkasravi398]

A bit late. See, high pass filter passes high frequencies. Here it is passing high frequencies to the ground, letting lower frequencies go the other way. The tutorials for low pass and high pass are actually the same thing from different views. In low pass circuit you choose a high frequency cut-off with capacitor and resistor combination and take the lower frequencies to use. In contrast in high pass filter circuit you take a low frequency cut-off combination and take the higher frequencies into use. In both versions you could take the other part of frequencies.

[@mukul1230]

Thanks this was the simplest one...also could you let us know how much wattage speaker did you use here

[@troyc4841]

Use two for stereo= twice as loud! Great video.

[@dahlabeatz621]

Heya bro 🎉 your circuits are great it’s important I mention I successfully made your speaker circuit. I’m interested to know I have a speaker that’s 3.5 ohm 3 watt and how does this react in this circuit ? Using ofcourse 5 to 9v

[@Afrotechmods]

I think it would probably be fine just don't expect to be able to drive it at full power.

[@noelandrew3600]

nice simple design, i just made one of these for an external speaker for my CDV 700 Geiger counter. works great and im pleased to be a subscriber to your channel.

[@2pacOk4]

Just worked so fine 🙂 ..thank you so much

[@cet_learning]

... thank you for sharing your unique skills with us! Presentation flawless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@revrev1679]

The 104 capacitor @ 0.1uF always work like magic

[@w.rustylane5650]

Another very interesting video tutorial. Keep 'em coming! Now I want to build this amp for myself. I guess I'll have to start looking on all of my salvaged electronic boards for parts since I am retired now on a fixed income. :-( Pulling components off of old computer boards, an amplifier and an old UPS power supply that smoked should keep me busy for a while as I continue to watch more of your video tutorials. Thanks for posting these interesting videos on electronics. W Rusty Lane in eastern Tennessee (Witherington Place Railroad)

[@christoffermedc]

Thank you! You're an amazing pedagogue!

[@simonhopkins3867]

it looks good worth a go just for the fun of it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@losaikosavetheearth4215]

You've eased my intrest. I hope to do some small projects, then try 60 wpc or more stereo tube amplifier. Slow, going. I'll keep watching. I bought some Chinese junk and was out hundreds with junk that cost too much to send back. W

[@ChessKings143]

superb, loved this.

[@xanokothe]

Hi Afro! I missed you a lot

[@Afrotechmods]

I missed you too.

[@matthewkevinkumar2969]

Me too

[@gbolahanoladeji5473]

Please can you make a video of using the lm386 to amplify microphone signals

[@DaibYOUT]

Hello! I have never built your circuit. However, the LM386 is famous for the following: ① The LM386 has an old and unique design, and omitting the 10KΩ to 5KΩ input volume on pin 3 will result in poor sound quality. ② The design balances the differential amplifier circuit by grounding this volume to -GND via 10KΩ to 5KΩ and grounding pin 2 to -GND. ③ Therefore, if the input volume is not needed, it is necessary to insert a fixed resistor of 10KΩ to 5KΩ between pin 3 and -GND instead. And so on (from Japan).

[@MrShivamgautam1]

Playing this video on my new Amplifier... Thanks Afrotechmods!✌

[@majdinj]

I am a little bit confused. Is it the high pass filter or low pass filter that sends the high frequency sounds to ground???

[@ifitmattersidontcare]

This is 2 years late, but I also noticed he said something about sending high pass to ground and associated that with a high pass filter. I think he did actually meant a low pass filter because we don't want high frequencies out.

[@rohanraju8647]

Circuit input works, but in the output sound is not coming

[@BADALICE]

Alright, very cool, that was a handy little video. Thank you.

[@aswani3711]

This was just what I was looking for! Thank you very very much!!!

[@yuanfutan1719]

Hi except for the supply voltage, do I need to provide a supply current for the lm 386 chip

[@andresmendez6870]

Could you please explain to me how to physically connect all the grounds together? I'm a newbie, and can't understand which wires go together, even when looking at the breadboard. It's very confusing.

[@techlokka4973]

Hi bro,I install this circuit to my breadboard,i can heard a quality sound,but after i install the circuit few minutes my LM386 chip temperature was goes up,why is it happened ?please can you give me a solution for this?🙏

[@rizzle-p]

how do you connect 2 of the circuits together to make stereo? and do you need double the power supply for 2 ic's?

[@SLSMARTIDEAS]

wow you sound great, and thanks for the great and easy to follow video.!

[@YTSjoerd]

Hi aphrotechmods, I have a question about this high-pass filter that you implemented at the end of the video. How does it work, I thought that a low-pass filter usually consisted of a resistor in series followed by a capacitor in parallel leading to ground, however in this schematic you seem to use a resistor and a capacitor both in parallel to the signal. How does this filter out the high frequencies? Because it has a resistance value of 10 ohms regardless of the frequency.

[@Afrotechmods]

Realize that the small 0.1uF capacitor will have a small amount of internal series resistance, so implicitly it is an RC high pass filter!

[@YTSjoerd]

Ah okay, thanks for responding!

[@fredlllll]

would love to get such a video on higher power amplifiers built with mosfets and such

[@inactiv4822]

How to calculate the resistor and capacitor values for oscillation filtering?

[@espresso3242]

So, looking at the schematic at 3:00 I see multiple connections to ground, but some components having different sources of power. Could we connect each ground to the same grounding column on the breadboard?

[@mohamedshapan6834]

its work done thanks sir and i add potentiometer befor the speaker its value between (1-5) k ohm and i can control the sound

[@georgeh0536]

1:13 After you were done being a what?